Life and Death: What Do You Know About Newton's City Clerk?

NEWTON, MA – It's clerks week and Newton is inviting you to go bug, say hi to its main man. Between May 8 and May 13 head over to City Hall and say hi to David Olson.

Clerks' Week goes well beyond Clerks the movie (that came out in 1994). Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton both signed proclamations officially declaring the first full week of May Municipal Clerks Week as a way to recognize one of the oldest positions towns and cities have.

In Newton the position is one in which those serving tend to stay for a few years: Current Newton City Clerk David A. Olson has been on the job for a little more than a decade and is only the eighth city clerk that Newton has had since Newton became a city in 1873.

What does the Clerk’s Office do for Newton? Aside from supporting the work of the City Council; registering birth, death and marriage certificates; administering elections; and keeping Newton’s records safe and accessible in the City Archives? The list goes on. Before you go, check out a great Q&A the TAB did with Olson a few years ago.

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